


Where to Start

by HeatherN



Series: If Found [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, F/F, Fights, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Missing Persons, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeatherN/pseuds/HeatherN
Summary: Andy and Nile get distressing late night phone calls.Copley finds a lead and makes a phone call.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: If Found [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847197
Comments: 12
Kudos: 79





	1. The Symbol

Andy woke quite suddenly to the sound of her phone ringing. _Wrong number. It’ll stop._ No one would call her this late; everyone knows she’d never answer the phone at this hour. Eventually the ringing stopped and Andy resolved to fall back asleep. Then suddenly it started up again. She felt a shove from the woman in bed beside her. “Answer it,” she grumbled. Andy gave her a shove back, and answered the phone.

“What?”

She recognized Joe’s voice immediately as he apologized for calling so late. “Nicky’s missing.”

Andy got out of bed in a fluid motion as she reassured Joe. “I’m coming over. We’ll figure this out.”

She dressed quickly and quietly. “Emergency?” the woman asked her from the bed.

“It was fun. You’ve got my number. Call me,” was Andy’s response as she left the woman’s apartment and headed outside. She had no idea whether the woman would call her and she supposed it didn’t really matter either way. It had been fun, though.

When she arrived at the hotel where Joe & Nicky had been staying, Andy saw Nile waiting outside. “You said on the phone that Nicky was missing,” Nile said. Andy nodded. As they made their way to Joe’s room, Andy said, “I told Copley to call you if he found anything on the computer.” Nile nodded and took her phone off silent.

Andy was the one to knock on the door to Joe’s room. “It’s us,” she said. A few moments later, Joe opened it and immediately embraced Andy and Nile. “We’re going to find him.”

The three made their way into the room; Andy kept a comforting arm around Joe. “Copley’s on it,” Nile offered.

“We’d had drinks downstairs,” Joe began describing the night’s events. “Then we came back up to our room. We made love. We fell asleep. Then, I woke up with this feeling that something was wrong. And he just...he wasn’t here.” Joe gestured to the room, where Andy and Nile could see Nicky’s belongings were still in the room.

It wasn’t as though Joe and Nicky had never been apart. Andy knew this. Over the past millennium, they had of course spent multiple nights apart. But neither of them had ever been captured without the other. Andy understood that difference - when the one person you were ready to spend eternity with was taken, it caused a great deal of fear. She told herself that this was different from what happened to Quynh. This wasn’t the 1500s. Now there’s GPS and laptops and cameras and so many different ways to find someone. 

“What I don’t get is...well, how they could take him without you waking up,” Nile said slowly. “Drugged maybe? At the bar?”

“Must be,” Joe said.

Just then Nile’s phone beeped. “Copley has something from the hotel security footage.The guys who took Nicky were wearing uniforms.” 

Nile stared at her phone for a moment before showing the image to Andy and Joe. “Who the hell are these guys?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For *spoilers* about the emblem, hover over this text.


	2. The Phone Call

Copley had hoped one of the immortals might know what organization the emblem was from. They didn’t. It was clear he’d have to get in contact with former colleagues at the Agency and call in some favors. _Who abducts someone from their home while wearing an identifying uniform?_

It was a question that would have to wait while Copley set about completing the other task Andromache had given him. This was going to be unpleasant.

Copley dialed the number and waited. The person on the other end picked up and there was silence. “B…” Copley barely got out a sound before he was accosted with angry, slurred speech. “What the fuck do _you_ want?”

“Andy asked me to call, Booker.”

After hearing that, Booker sputtered. He rethought whatever he had been about to say. There was another moment of silence, then, “What about?”

“Nicky’s missing. We’re searching for him now and…”

Booker interrupted, “Missing?”

“He was taken. We have some idea of who took him; they were wearing uniforms. I can send you a picture of their logo.” Copley got the distinct feeling Booker wasn’t really listening to what he was saying. 

Booker’s response was telling. “What do you expect me to do about it?”

Copley empathized with Booker’s situation. Well, as best as he could, given that Copley was very mortal and Booker was not. But Copley understood grief and he understood that Booker was grieving. By all accounts, Booker had been grieving for decades. This conversation couldn’t be helping. Yet Copley also knew that despite their shared experiences of grief, he really wasn’t the one who could provide Booker with any comfort. _Best to keep this conversation formal._

“Andy expects you to help find him.”

“And Joe?”

“I haven’t spoken to Joe.”

“Does Joe want me there?”

“I haven’t spoken to Joe.”

Both Booker and Copley knew the answer to that question. Of course Joe wouldn’t want Booker there. But Andy was right. If these people could abduct an immortal from his own bed, they’d need all the help they could get to find and rescue him.

“I’m sending that picture now. I’ll book you a flight and call once I figure out where they took him.”

The line went dead. Booker had hung up the phone. _That could have gone worse._


	3. The Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this work. The first chapter of the next installment of the series, where the old guard join the doom patrol finally meet, is also up. Here's a link: [Nicolò Patrol.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25646779)

By now, Joe had gotten pretty used to frequent international travel. He packed light; he always had his passport ready; he checked in at least two and half hours early. He'd even gotten used to 'random' searches that always seemed to target him and never any of the others. Even still, the long flight to London felt particularly exasperating. This was the first time he’d ever been on a plane without Nicky. But today he felt off. He wasn’t afraid of flying; he was just uncomfortable. Wherever he went, he felt a physical discomfort.

They were on the way to Copley’s home when Andy made an announcement. “I’ve called in Booker.”

“What?!” Joe was incredulous.

“We’ll need everyone to retrieve Nicky.”

“That man already betrayed us once. We can’t trust him. How could you?”

Andy cut in. “Look, I’m telling you now so you’ll have time to sort yourself out before we get to Copley’s. He’s meeting us there.”

For the rest of the car ride there, Joe was silent. He was deciding what exactly he would do when he saw Booker.

When they walked into Copley’s home, about a half hour later, Booker was already there. Joe didn’t give him a chance to speak or even move. He ignored Copley’s greeting and walked directly to Booker. “Ya khayen! You traitor!”

Joe unsheathed his scimitar and brought it down in a fluid motion across Booker’s neck. Booker collapsed and lay dead. Seconds passed, and then his neck knit itself back together. It hadn’t even finished healing when Booker struggled to stand. Joe brought his scimitar down again. Booker collapsed. Again. Joe readied his scimitar and watched Booker.

Joe heard Andy speak from nearby. “That's enough." Joe ignored her.

"Don’t make me kill you without Nicky here.”

He turned his head toward her and saw that she had her gun out and pointed at him - her finger on the trigger. Booker’s neck was beginning to mend. Joe had a decision to make. He stood where he was, unwilling to bring his scimitar down again but equally unwilling to resheathe it. It couldn’t possibly be his time now, not with Nicky so far away. It had been their destiny to die their first deaths together; it must be their destiny to die their final deaths together. Yet, there was no guarantee that was true.

Eyes and scimitar still focused on Booker, Joe took a step back. Then another. He couldn’t risk that it would end like this. Not without Nicky. Not with Nicky’s own wellbeing at stake. Joe slowly lowered his scimitar and took another few steps back. He might not kill Booker again, but he would be watching him.

“I wasn't involved in this,” Booker said.

Joe wanted to believe him, but he didn't. "One misstep..." Joe said, letting the threat hang in the air.

Andy re-holstered her gun and took a seat. “All right, Copley. What do you have for us?”

Copley cast a glance at Joe and Booker before he began their debrief. “Right. The logo belongs to a shadowy U.S. government organization called the Bureau of Normalcy. I hadn’t even heard of it while at The Agency. That’s how covert their operation is.”

Nile had also taken a seat. “What do they do?”

“According to my contact, their mission is to categorize, capture, and control any abnormal people and creatures throughout the world. Frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to take one of you before this.”

“About that,” Andy said. “I thought you were going to hide us from all that.”

“I’ve done everything I can. I imagine they must have begun tracking you before you contracted me to keep you concealed.”

By now, Booker was completely healed. He sat as far away from Joe as he could. “So, how do we find them?”

Copley handed a folder to Andy. “I don’t know, exactly. However, my contact has a way to find them. They’re a group of people who are also at risk of capture by the Bureau.” Copley smiled wryly. “They’re also immortal, in their own way.”

“They’re what?” Nile asked.

“It’s in the file,” Copley said, gesturing toward the folder he’d given Andy. “As far as I know, they can still be killed. They just don’t grow old. And they all have unique abilities. Rita Farr has elastic limbs. Cliff Steele has a robot body. Victor Stone is part human, part robot. Larry Trainor is irradiated and has an energy creature living inside him. And finally, Jane has multiple personalities that each have their own ability.”

No one quite knew what to say to all that. These special abilities sounded impossible.

Copley broke the silence. “It’s a lot, I know. But my intel on this is solid.”

“So, where are we meeting these people?” Joe asked.

“Doom Manor. Ohio.”


End file.
